Despite Israel’s contention that Syrian government forces were complicit in recent deadly attacks on the Druze community in Sweida, the United States is pushing for further sanctions relief for the regime of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in the name of “fighting terrorism.”
At a Monday meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Washington urged the body to “adjust” sanctions in place for more than a decade on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS.
The terror group led the deposing of longtime Syrian President Bashar Assad in December following a brutal 13-year civil war. The Trump administration has unraveled a series of Syria sanctions initially placed on the Assad regime to aid the building of the Syrian economy and infrastructure, while working to provide al-Sharaa with international legitimacy.
Until earlier this month, HTS was a U.S.-designated foreign terror organization. It served as Al-Qaeda’s Syrian wing until 2016 and was designated, along with its predecessor, the Al-Nusra Front, on the Security Council’s Al-Qaeda and Islamic State sanctions list two years earlier.
As a result, HTS is under an arms embargo and a worldwide asset freeze. Additionally, Al-Sharaa himself, along with several other HTS members, are also under U.N. sanctions, which include a travel ban.
A report by the office that monitors U.N. sanctions reportedly claimed this year that there are no noticeable active ties between the new government in Syria and Al-Qaeda.
HTS and Al-Sharaa have attempted to publicly distance themselves from their past links with Al-Qaeda, a transition the Israeli government has said is superficial, likening Al-Sharaa to a “terrorist in a suit.”
Dorothy Shea, the interim U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council on Monday that ‘the Syrian government has made a clear commitment to combat Al-Qaeda and ISIL,” referring to the Islamic State.
“Both groups are equally clear that they oppose the new government and are threatening to destroy it. Council members should not take those threats lightly,” she said.
Shea said the Security Council “can, and must, adjust its sanctions so the Syrian government can prevail in the fight against terrorism, while keeping the most dangerous and unrepentant actors designated.”
‘A piece of stability in the region’
A tense ceasefire between Druze and Bedouin tribes has held since July 19, following a series of vicious attacks.
Israel, fiercely protective of the Druze community, which lives on both sides of the Israel-Syria border, intervened in the massacre with airstrikes on the Bedouins, Syrian government forces, the Syrian Defense Ministry and an area in the vicinity of the presidential palace itself before the U.S. government stepped in.
At Monday’s session, Geir Pederson, U.N. special envoy for Syria, labeled Israel’s protection as an “unacceptable foreign intervention.”
He said, “I condemn the appalling violations against civilians and combatants in Sweida. I also condemn Israel’s intervention.”
The French envoy also called for Israel to stay out of internal Syrian strife and to withdraw troops from a demilitarized border zone that Israel encroached on to develop a stronger defensive position during the overthrow of Assad.
“Neighboring countries can help Syria become a piece of stability in the region,” Jay Dharmadhikari, France’s deputy U.N. ambassador, told the council, while welcoming U.S.-brokered talks between Syrian and Israeli officials last week in Paris.
“We call on Israel to respect a sovereign Syria that is eager to pacify its relationships with its neighbors,” Dharmadhikari said. “This means ending its military activities on Syrian territory.”
